NO STRESS ZONE.

1. Each day write down a few things that make you grateful.Don’t take things for granted… Today, a large portion of humanity enjoys comforts and conveniences that even royalty did not possess in centuries past, but we do not wake up every day bursting with joy over the fact that we have central heating and are vaccinated against polio.When you first drive a new car home, you might derive genuine pleasure from the powerful yet quiet engine and the impeccable stitching on the upholstery. But a month or two later, you’re likely to barely notice these details that at first seemed so important. This process, called hedonic adaptation, is one the main explanations for why happiness has improved so little when the objective conditions of our lives have improved so much.So what can we do about it? Evidence suggests that the simple practice of noticing and writing down the good things in our lives can benefit our happiness. One study in which people wrote about intensely positive experiences for 20 minutes each day for three days found that people not only became happier, but may also have become healthier as well.

2. Stay in the present.Humans have a remarkable ability to think about the non-present. As far as we know, squirrels never worry about what will happen next Tuesday nor ruminate on their sub-par nut-burying last Fall.In contrast, we can replay events from our pasts and learn from them (I got badly sunburned at the beach, so next time I’ll wear sunscreen), predict the future and adjust our plans accordingly (if I wait until after rush hour, I can get to work in half the time)… This amazing capacity allows us to learn and plan and reason in ways that no other species can. But the very same ability that makes us so smart and capable also makes it possible to spend a lot of our lives in a state of worry, regret, or distraction.People spend nearly 50% of their time thinking about the past, the future, something other than the present. We’re in a constant state of distraction about some other time. It turns out, people are substantially less happy when their minds wander than and they allow themselves to go in that direction. Our goal shouldn’t be to be present 100% of the time — some degree of mind-wandering is unavoidable and, in certain cases, extremely useful. But if we can use our capacity to mind-wander when it’s worthwhile, and arrest our tendency to wander when it’s causing pointless worry or harmful distraction, the evidence suggests we could be considerably happier.

3. Be kind to others.In addition to being adaptable and smart, humans are also highly social. Our capacity for cooperation is exquisite, witnessed, for example, in our densely populated cities in which people perform highly specialized jobs, receive currency that can be traded for almost any good or service imaginable, and where most people are able to get through the day without worrying about being attacked or exploited. If cooperation is the fuel for much of human progress, then our capacity to care about and help those around us (including people we aren’t genetically related to) seems likely to be a catalyst.Consistent with this idea, we seem to be designed to be kind. Happy people tend to be kind people, and part of the reason is the simple fact that being kind actually makes us happier. All around the world, people who are happier tend to be more engaged in more prosocial spending. In one experiment, people who were randomly assigned to spend a small amount of money on others experienced a significant increase in happiness while those who were assigned to spend money on themselves did not. Another experiment investigated the link between kindness and happiness and found that happiness could be increased by merely noticing and counting one’s own acts of kindness for one week. Moreover, this exercise led, in turn, to people becoming even kinder.

4. Be physically active.For many people the conveniences of modern life make it possible to accomplish a lot without expending much physical effort. Rather than spending our lives farming, hunting, gathering, or even working in a factory, more and more people today spend their lives sitting — in a car, at a desk, or on a sofa. As physical activity has become a recreational choice rather than a practical necessity, it’s increasingly important for our well-being to make the decision to get up and move. A large and growing body of evidence supports the idea that physical activity isn’t just good for our health — it makes us happier, too.In a cross-sectional study of over 15,334 people across 15 European Union countries, scientists found that people who engaged in physical activity were significantly more likely to be happy, even after controlling for age, health status, employment status, country, and more. We know from controlled experiments that at least part of the reason for this relationship is that physical activity actually makes people happier. For example, in one long-term experiment involving 124 people, half were randomly assigned to a weekly aerobic training program while the remaining half did not receive a formal exercise program. Those in the exercise condition exhibited substantially better well-being at the 4, 8, and 12 month follow-ups.These are just a few of the practical steps that seem to make people happier. There are, of course, many others — such as engaging in volunteer work, seeking out new friends, or spending less time commuting. But no matter how people do it, joy has the potential to facilitate progress. Enhanced well-being, greater resilience, stronger relationships and higher productivity — they are just some of the ways such progress can manifest.

DISCLOSURE: THE CONTENT PROVIDED ON THIS WEBSITE IS FOR EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE, MENTAL HEALTH ADVICE, OR THERAPY. IF YOU ARE HAVING A MEDICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM, PLEASE SEEK APPROPRIATE HELP FROM AN APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONAL. IF YOU ARE HAVING A MEDICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCY, PLEASE CALL 911, YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY NUMBER, OR GO TO YOUR NEAREST EMERGENCY ROOM.